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Signs of the Times, Vol. 4, No. 45.

General Articles

Signs of the Times

Nov 28, 1878

Pacific Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Oakland, California · Nov 28, 1878

General Articles.

By Mrs. E. G. White

TRIAL OF STEPHEN.

BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.
“AND in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration.” These Grecians were residents of other countries, where the Greek language was spoken. By far the larger number of converts were Jews who spoke Hebrew; but these had lived in the Roman empire, and spoke only Greek. Murmurings began to rise among them that the Grecian widows were not so liberally supplied as the needy among the Hebrews. Any partiality of this kind would have been grievous to God; and prompt measures were taken to restore peace and harmony to the believers.
The Holy Spirit suggested a method whereby the apostles might be relieved from the task of apportioning to the poor, and similar burdens, so that they could be left free to preach Christ. “Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables. Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.”
The church accordingly selected seven men full of faith and the wisdom of the Spirit of God, to attend to the business pertaining to the cause. Stephen was chosen first; he was a Jew by birth and religion, but spoke the Greek language, and was conversant with the customs and manners of the Greeks. He was therefore considered the most proper person to stand at the head, and have supervision of the disbursement of the funds appropriated to the widows, orphans, and the worthy poor. This selection met the minds of all, and the dissatisfaction and murmuring were quieted.
The seven chosen men were solemnly set apart for their duties by prayer and the laying on of hands. Those who were thus ordained, were not thereby excluded from teaching the faith. On the contrary, it is recorded that “Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people.” They were fully qualified to instruct in the truth. They were also men of calm judgment and discretion, well calculated to deal with difficult cases of trial, of murmuring, or jealousy.
This choosing of men to transact the business of the church, so that the apostles could be left free for their special work of teaching the truth, was greatly blessed of God. The church advanced in numbers and strength. “And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great number of the priests were obedient to the faith.”
It is necessary that the same order and system should be maintained in the church now as in the days of the apostles. The prosperity of the cause depends very largely upon its various departments being conducted by men of ability, who are qualified for their positions. Those who are chosen of God to be leaders in the cause of God, having the general oversight of the spiritual interest of the church, should be relieved, as far as possible, from cares and perplexities of a temporal nature. Those whom God has called to minister in word and doctrine should have time for meditation, prayer, and study of the Scriptures. Their clear spiritual discernment is dimmed by entering into the lesser details of business, and dealing with the various temperaments of those who meet together in church capacity. It is proper for all matters of a temporal nature to come before the proper officers, and be by them adjusted. But if they are of so difficult a character as to baffle their wisdom, they should be carried into the council of those who have the oversight of the entire church.
Stephen was very active in the cause of God, and declared his faith boldly. “Then there arose certain of the synagogue, which is called the synagogue of the Libertines, and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia and of Asia, disputing with Stephen. And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake.” These students of the great rabbis had felt confident that in a public discussion they could obtain a complete victory over Stephen, because of his supposed ignorance. But he not only spoke with the power of the Holy Ghost, but it was plain to all the vast assembly that he was also a student of the prophecies, and learned in all matters of the law. He ably defended the truths he advocated, and utterly defeated his opponents.
The priests and rulers who witnessed the wonderful manifestation of the power that attended the ministration of Stephen, were filled with bitter hatred. Instead of yielding to the weight of evidence he presented, they determined to silence his voice by putting him to death. They had on several occasions bribed the Roman authorities to pass over without comment instances where the Jews had taken the law into their own hands, and tried, condemned, and executed prisoners according to their national custom. The enemies of Stephen did not doubt that they could pursue such a course without danger to themselves. They determined to risk the consequences at all events, and they therefore seized Stephen and brought him before the sanhedrim council for trial.
Learned Jews from the surrounding countries were summoned for the purpose of refuting the arguments of the accused. Saul, who had distinguished himself as a zealous opponent of the doctrine of Christ, and a persecutor of all who believed on him, was also present. This learned man took a leading part against Stephen. He brought the weight of eloquence and the logic of the rabbis to bear upon the case, and convince the people that Stephen was preaching delusive and dangerous doctrines.
But Saul met in Stephen one as highly educated as himself, and one who had a full understanding of the purpose of God in the spreading of the gospel to other nations. He believed in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and was fully established in regard to the privileges of the Jews; but his faith was broad, and he knew the time had come when the true believers should worship not alone in temples made with hands; but, throughout the world, men might worship God in spirit and in truth. The veil had dropped from the eyes of Stephen, and he discerned to the end of that which was abolished by the death of Christ.
The priests and rulers prevailed nothing against his clear, calm wisdom, though they were vehement in their opposition. They determined to make an example of Stephen, and, while they thus satisfied their revengeful hatred, prevent others, through fear, from adopting his belief. Charges were preferred against him in a most imposing manner. False witnesses were hired to testify that they had heard him speak blasphemous words against the temple and the law. Said they, “For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs which Moses delivered us.”
As Stephen stood face to face with his judges, to answer to the crime of blasphemy, a holy radiance shone upon his countenance. “And all that sat in the council, looking steadfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel.” Those who exalted Moses might have seen in the face of the prisoner the same holy light which radiated the face of that ancient prophet. The shekinah was a spectacle which they would never again witness in the temple, whose glory had departed forever. Many who beheld the lighted countenance of Stephen trembled and veiled their faces; but stubborn unbelief and prejudice never faltered.
Stephen was questioned as to the truth of the charges against him, and took up his defense in a clear, thrilling voice that rang through the council hall. He proceeded to rehearse the history of the chosen people of God in words that held the assembly spell-bound. He showed a thorough knowledge of the Jewish economy, and the spiritual interpretation of it now made manifest through Christ. He began with Abraham, and traced down through history from generation to generation, going through all the national records of Israel to Solomon, taking up the most impressive points to vindicate his cause.
He showed that God commended the faith of Abraham, which claimed the land of promise, though he owned no foot of land. He dwelt especially upon Moses, who received the law by the dispensation of angels. He repeated the words of Moses which foretold of Christ: “A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear.” He presented distinctly before them that the sin of Israel was in not heeding the voice of the angel, who was Christ himself. Said he, “This is he that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sinai, and with our fathers, who received the lively oracles to give unto us.”
He made plain his own loyalty to God and to the Jewish faith, while he showed that the law in which they trusted for salvation had not been able to preserve Israel from idolatry. He connected Jesus Christ with all the Jewish history. He referred to the building of the temple by Solomon, and to the words of both Solomon and Isaiah: “Howbeit the Most high dwelleth not in temples made with hands.” “Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool. What house will ye build me? saith the Lord; or what is the place of my rest? Hath not my hand made all these things?” The place of God’s highest worship was in heaven.
When Stephen had reached this point there was a tumult among the people. The prisoner read his fate in the countenances before him. He perceived the resistance that met his words, which were spoken at the dictation of the Holy Ghost. He knew that he was giving his last testimony. Few who read this address of Stephen properly appreciate it. The occasion, the time, and place should be borne in mind to make his words convey their full significance.

The Apocryphal Books of the New Testament.

By Dudley Marvin Canright

WHAT about the apocryphal books ? Were there not a large number of gospels and epistles claiming to have been written by the apostles, besides those which we now have ? Was it not a long time before the church decided which were genuine and which were not ? Did not King James decide this question ? or, was it not first done by Constantine ? And were not some of the books now in the Bible almost rejected, and only voted in by one or two majority ?
It makes one indignant to hear infidels promulgating such falsehoods as these, when every scholar of any reading knows better.
King James of England, about two hundred and fifty years ago, selected fifty-four learned Christian men to translate the Holy Scriptures out of the original Hebrew and Greek into English, though translations had been made by others several times, and many years before. These translators had nothing to do in voting on what books should be received as the genuine books of the Bible, or what should not. No such question came before them. They simply translated the books of the Bible just as they found them in the original, and as they had always stood, and been received since the days of the apostles. Neither did Constantine, his council, nor any other council, vote on the books of the Bible, receiving this book, rejecting that book, and disputing over another. Unscrupulous infidels have started these theories and kept them going. But they are utterly false. The facts in the case are simply these :
1. "Besides our gospels and the Acts of the Apostles, no Christian history claiming to be written by an apostle or apostolical man is quoted within three hundred years after the birth of Christ, by any writer now extant or known ; or if quoted, is quoted with marks of censure and rejection." Paley's Evidences, p. 124.
"The four gospels which we have, and these only, have always been acknowledged and quoted by Christians and heretics, Jews and pagans, as authoritative books of the Christian church. . . . It has never been pretended that the Christian church has acknowledged any other gospels as canonical." Stowe's Hist. of the Books of the Bible.
2. There is no evidence that any spurious or apocryphal books whatever existed in the first century of the Christian era, in which century all our historical books are proved to have been extant. There are no quotations from any such books by the apostolical fathers for the first one hundred years.
3. In after generations, when these apocryphal books began to appear, they were never read in the Christian churches, as the books of the New Testament were always read.
4. They were never admitted into the volume with those which we now have.
5. They never appear in the catalogues given by early writers, with the books of the true Scriptures. Indeed, when the catalogues of the true books are given, these spurious ones are frequently mentioned as existing, but as being spurious. Thus Eusebius, in his Ecclesiastical History, written A. D. 315, after giving the genuine books, says : "Among the spurious must be numbered both the books called the Acts of Paul and that called Pastor and the Revelation of Peter, besides those books called the Epistle of Barnabas." Eusebius' Eccl. Hist., chap. XXV., p. 110, etc. This is only a sample of how carefully the distinction was always made.
"This species of evidence comes later than the rest, as it was not natural that catalogues of any particular class of books should be put forth, until Christian writings became numerous, or until some writings showed themselves, claiming titles which did not belong to them, and thereby rendering it necessary to separate books of authority from others. But when it does appear, it is extremely satisfactory; the catalogues, though numerous, and made in countries at a wide distance from one another, differing very little, differing in nothing which is material, and all containing the four gospels. To this last article there is no exception.
"I. In the writings of Origen which remain, and in some extracts preserved by Eusebius, from works of his which are now lost, there are enumerations of the books of Scripture, in which the four gospels and the Acts of the Apostles are distinctly and honorably specified, and in which no books appear besides what are now received. The reader, by this time, will easily recollect that the date of Origen's work is A. D. 230.
"II. Athanasius, about a century afterward, delivered a catalogue of the books of the New Testament in form, containing our Scriptures and no others; of which he says, 'In these alone the doctrine of religion is taught; let no man add to them, or take anything from them.'
"III. About twenty years after Athanasius, Cyril, bishop of Jerusalem, set forth a catalogue of the books of Scripture publicly read at that time.
"IV. And, fifteen years after Cyril, the Council of Laodicea delivered an authoritative catalogue of canonical Scripture, like Cyril's.
"V. Catalogues now become frequent. Within thirty years from the last date, that is, from the year 363 to near the conclusion of the fourth century, we have catalogues by Epiphanius, by Gregory Nazianzen, by Philaster, bishop of Brescia in Italy, by Amphilochius, bishop of Iconium, all, as they are sometimes called, clean catalogues (that is, they admit no books into the number besides what we now receive), and all, for every purpose of historic evidence, the same as ours.
"VI. Within the same period, Jerome, the most learned Christian writer of his age, delivered a catalogue of the books of the New Testament, recognizing every book now received, with the intimation of a doubt concerning the epistle to the Hebrews alone, and taking not the least notice of any book which is not now received.
"VII. Contemporary with Jerome, who lived in Palestine, was St. Augustine in Africa, who published likewise a catalogue, without joining to the Scriptures, as books of authority, any other ecclesiastical writing whatever, and without omitting one which we at this day acknowledge.
"VIII. And with these concurs another contemporary writer, Rusin, a presbyter of Aquileia, whose catalogue, like theirs, is perfect and unmixed, and concludes with these remarkable words: 'These are the volumes which the fathers have included in the canon, and out of which they would have us prove the doctrine of our faith.'" Paley's Evidences, pp. 123, 124.
As the book of Revelation has been particularly assailed, we deem it proper to say a few words about it. We often hear it asserted that it was never known till long after the time of the apostles, and that it was finally admitted into the Bible, after a great struggle, by a vote of one majority. This story has been repeated so confidently that uninformed persons have really come to believe it; but it is all a wicked falsehood.
On this subject a learned writer truthfully remarks: "The testimony of the early and contemporary witnesses is unanimous and uncontradicted in favor of the book. Though well known and extensively used in the churches, not a breath of suspicion was ever blown upon its reputation, until nearly one hundred and fifty years after the death of the apostle to whom it is ascribed; and then not confidently, but doubtingly; not on any critical grounds alleged or pretended, but solely on account of the supposed difficulty of its interpretation, the bad use which has been made of it, and a dislike to the doctrines which it was imagined to contain." Stowe's Hist. of the Books of the Bible, p. 470.
The occasion on which the genuineness of this book was first questioned was the following: About A. D. 230, Nepos, a certain bishop from Egypt, began to advocate the notion of a thousand years' personal reign of Christ upon the earth. He was very zealous in propagating this false theory. He drew his argument principally from the book of Revelation. At first, a large number in Africa fell into the heresy. But a few years afterward, Dionysius, bishop of Alexandria, so thoroughly refuted this theory that it was quite generally abandoned. This occurred A. D. 255. As the Apocalypse was the source from which the heretics had drawn their false doctrine, the bishop began to question that book itself, though he could bring nothing against it. He acknowledged that he could not understand the book, yet would not on that account reject it. He allowed that it was written by a man named John, who was a holy and inspired man. He did not attempt to bring any evidence against the genuineness or authenticity of the book itself.
This was the first open attack ever made on the genuineness of the Apocalypse, and it is plain, from the bishop's own evidence, that he could bring no respectable authority against it. It is also plain that he had no historical ground for his conjectures; but that the testimony of history was all against him; that he himself was not at all confident about the doubtfulness of the book; and that his wish to get rid of its authority arose entirely from his apprehension of its obscurity, and its influence on the millennial controversy. This controversy continued to prevail through several centuries; and during that time its opposers felt an anxiety to rid themselves of the authority of the Apocalypse, and their efforts in this direction only served to keep up the dispute. All who were induced to reject the book, did so, not on historical ground against it, not for want of such testimony in its favor, but simply on doctrinal grounds. But the absurdity and false doctrines ascribed to this book belong to the interpreters, and not to the book itself.
That this book was unanimously received by the entire Christian church, immediately after the death of St. John, is abundantly shown by Dr. Stowe in his able work, History of the Books of the Bible, chapter twelve. Here the reader will find a list of more than a score of the most noted Christian writers of the first three centuries, beginning with the immediate successors of St. John, —persons who were personally acquainted with him,—and extending down through a period of over two hundred years, all indorsing the book of Revelation as holy Scripture, written by St. John. Who could ask better testimony than this? It was included in the catalogues of the New Testament books composed at that time by different fathers. No book of the New Testament stands better authenticated than this book.
6. The apocryphal writings were never noticed by the adversaries of the Christians, were never quoted or referred to by them, while they frequently quoted books of the New Testament.
7. They were never alleged by the different parties in theological controversies. This shows that they were considered of no authority. But every book of the New Testament was frequently thus quoted.
8. No commentaries were ever written on these apocryphal books. They were never translated into other languages. In short, little or no notice is taken of them in any age, at least until we come down into the Dark Ages, after the canon of the New Testament Scriptures had been fairly and unanimously settled. Finally, besides the silence of two centuries, they were with one consent universally repudiated by Christian writers of succeeding ages.
One thing is noticeable in all these apocryphal writings, viz., that they proceed upon the same fundamental history of Christ and his apostles as that which is set forth in the New Testament. The bare events and relations of the gospels are confirmed in these writings. They neither deny nor contradict any of them. They simply claim to give additional facts. But these writings are of no authority, and were never received as Scripture by the church in any age.
The difference between a genuine and a spurious book is easily proved. A book may be regarded as presumably spurious, 1. When doubts have been entertained from the first that it was the work of the reputed author; 2. When its intimate friends have denied that it was his work; 3. When a great number of years has elapsed since the death of the reputed author, during which time the book was entirely unknown or unheard of; 4. When the style is very different from that of the author whom it claims; 5. When events are recorded in it which are known to have occurred since the death of the pretended author; 6. When doctrines are taught which are contrary to 'the teachings of the pretended author.
Now every one of these evidences of the spuriousness of a work is true of these apocryphal books, while they are not true in a single case with regard to any other books of the New Testament. Whoever will take the trouble to read the apocryphal books, and to compare them with the New Testament, will have his mind set at rest immediately. The last observation shows them to be entirely dissimilar. They are in every way inferior, gross, low, and silly. A late critical author truly says of them :—
"The impugners of the New-Testament gospels appeal to the fact, that there are gospels acknowledged to be apocryphal, as proof of their theory that our recognized gospels are also myths or forgeries. Any one who candidly examines these spurious gospels, and compares them with the New Testament, will find in them, not a refutation of our sacred writers, but a most convincing testimony to their intelligence, honesty, and supernatural inspiration. So totally diverse are they from the genuine gospels, in conception, in spirit, in execution, in their whole impression, in all respects so entirely unlike, so immeasurably inferior, that the New Testament only shines the brighter by the contrast. They have scarcely so much resemblance to the genuine gospels as the monkey has to a man." Stowe's Hist. of the Books of the Bible, p. 203.
Here, then, we stand with the blessed New Testament in our hands, feeling perfectly certain that it is the genuine uncorrupted writings of the apostles and their companions. Thank God that the evidence is so clear and so abundant!
D. M. CANRIGHT.
November 8, 1878.

The Test.

By Isaac Watts

LIGHT-HEARTED, youthful, happy one, Whose heart with joy seems overflowing, Thoughtless unkindness ever shun, But joy on all around bestowing. In all thy speech let wisdom guide; For thou, my thoughtless, joyous friend, Shalt by thy words be justified; And by thy words shalt be condemned.
Hold, hold! young man who takes in vain The sacred name of thy Creator! Canst thou his favor hope to gain, When of his laws a violator? A heavy doom doth thee betide, Who hath thy Maker's name blasphemed, Shalt by thy words be justified; And by thy words shalt be condemned.
Parent, whose joy the future hath In child of blest anticipation, Seek'st thou to lead in virtue's path, And save from sin and dissipation? Weigh well thy words; in kindness chide, Thou who his future steps may'st bend, Shalt by thy words be justified; And by thy words shalt be condemned.
Sow by all waters, and fail not, Thou who the seeds of truth art sowing! Lift up thy voice, cry, and spare not, Thou who the trump of truth art blowing! Great is thy trust, truth to divide; Thou on whom life and death depend, Shalt by thy words be justified; And by thy words shalt be condemned.
Whatever be thy name or state, Sister or brother, parent, teacher, Plebian be, or magistrate, Judge, legislator, author, preacher; Each must his future life decide, Each on the unfailing truth depend, Must by his words be justified; And by his words shall be condemned.
-- Watts.
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